The New Yoga? Sadomasochism Leads to Altered States, Study Finds

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Sadomasochism, or sexual enjoyment from giving or receiving pain,
may be a meditative experience and in some cases may lead to an
altered state of consciousness, new research suggests.

Consensual sadomasochism was long considered pathological, but
psychologists studying people interested in BDSM (bondage,
discipline, sadism and masochism) have failed to find evidence
that these sexual practices are harmful. One study, published in
May 2013, actually found that practitioners
of BDSM were better off than the general population in some
ways, including having secure relationships and lower anxiety.
Currently, the psychiatrists' definitive handbook, the DSM-5,
lists
BDSM as a paraphilia, or unusual sexual fixation, but only
classifies it as a disorder if it causes harm.

If sadomasochism is not a pathology as once believed, the
question is why some people engage in these painful sexual
behaviors, said James Ambler, a graduate student in psychology at
Northern Illinois University.

To find out, Ambler recruited "switches," or people in the SM
community who like both receiving pain and giving pain. Fourteen
switches, 10 of whom were women, agreed to be assigned one of
those two roles for the night by roll of the die.

Before and after their sexual experience, the volunteers
completed a cognitive test called the Stroop task, in which they
saw a word for a color written in a color other than what the
word said ("blue" written in red, for example). It's hard for
the
brain to read the word correctly when the color of the
letters clashes with the meaning, making this a widely used test
of cognitive abilities. The volunteers also filled out
questionnaires about their feelings of "flow" during the
sadomasochistic experience. Flow is a state of focus and
enjoyment that people feel when fully immersed in a task.

The results showed that people playing the pain-receiving role
showed poorer Stroop task scores, which are seen with short-term
reductions of functions in a part of the brain called the
dorsolateral prefrontal cortexAmbler said. This region is linked
to executive control, working memory and other higher-level
functions.

The
pain that comes with sadomasochistic sex may cause the brain
to shunt blood flow away from this region, causing a subjectively
altered state of consciousness — and the appeal of SM, Ambler
said.

"Part of the reason these SM activities may be so extreme, at
some level, is that they're particularly effective at causing the
brain to change its distribution of blood flow," he said.
[ 51
Sultry Facts About Sex ]

People on the giving end of the pain got benefits, too. Both
sides of the equation reported similar levels of flow during
their sexual "scene."

Spiritual, not sexual

The findings hint that sadomasochism isn't entirely about
sex. A second study, conducted by Ellen Lee, a graduate
student in psychology at Northern Illinois University, with her
advisor, Brad Sagarin, and their BDSM Research Team, focused on a
nonsexual — but very painful — ritual performed by some in
the community.

Called the "Dance of Souls," this ritual involves people getting
temporary skin piercings, through which hooks attached to ropes
are placed. The ropes of one person are connected to those on
others in the group or to a fixed object and are pulled taut as
music or drums are played. These events are also known as "energy
pulls" and are seen as primarily spiritual, not sexual, Sagarin
told Live Science.

The researchers surveyed 22 participants in one of these rituals
at a kink community conference in California. Five participants
who were hooked agreed to participate, as well as nine supporters
(who make sure group members are OK during the ritual) and eight
observers. The participants filled out surveys about their
stress, emotions, flow and the extent to which they felt their
own selves overlapped with others at the event. They also gave
saliva samples to test their cortisol, a hormone that spikes
during stress.

Unsurprisingly, given the pain, cortisol levels went up during
the ritual. But something odd happened: Participants reported
feeling less stressed.

"We see this interesting disconnect," Sagarin said. "We think
this may be indicative of the types of altered states of
consciousness people might be seeking."

The effect might not be so different from what people experience
when they push their bodies during yoga, or even during
meditation, he said. People who complete the energy pull
ritual also report feeling more connected to others, he added.

The brain effects Ambler found might provide an explanation. The
dorsolateral prefrontal cortex is responsible, in part, for
distinguishing self from other, he said. If less blood flows to
the brain during these intensely painful experiences, the result
may be a feeling of oneness.

The researchers hope that future research will involve closer,
minute-by-minute monitoring of participants to delve into how the
physiological and the psychological are linked. The findings are
interesting both because they illuminate that link and because
sadomasochism may not be quite as fringe as psychologists once
thought, the researchers said.

"Research would suggest that a substantial minority of people do
either fantasize or participate in these activities," Sagarin
said. "There is relevance to it in terms of the number of people
either directly or indirectly involved."

The researchers presented their findings last week at the annual
meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology in
Austin, Texas.

Editor's Note: This story was updated at
10:00 a.m. Eastern Time Feb. 20 to include credit for Ellen Lee
for her research on the Dance of Souls.